Australia’s foreign investment policy

Australia welcomes foreign investment. It has helped build Australia’s economy and will continue to enhance the wellbeing of Australians by supporting economic growth and innovation into the future. Foreign investment supplements domestic savings; without foreign investment, production, employment and income would all be lower.

To ensure foreign investment proposals are consistent with Australia’s national interest, the Australian Government reviews major foreign investment proposals on a case-by-case basis through the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). The FIRB examines significant foreign investment applications that fall within the scope of Australia’s foreign investment policy and the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and makes recommendations to the Treasurer, on behalf of the government, on those proposals.

The review system allows the government to consider community concerns around foreign ownership of certain assets when assessing Australia’s national interest. The national interest test also recognises the importance of Australia’s market-based system, where companies are responsive to shareholders and where investment and sales decisions are driven by market forces rather than external strategic or non-commercial considerations.